BANGING YOUR HEAD AGAINST A CONCRETE BLOCK

The latest confrontation between Gibraltar, Spanish fishermen and the Guardia Civil has me scratching my head. It fact it has me banging my head against a concrete block. 

First the area which the conflict has taken place is in British Gibraltar territorial waters so they belong to us. Second it is not just Whitehall and our government that says these waters are ours so too does international law. Hence whatever Madrid may say is irrelevant. Thirdly what goes on in those waters is the business of the UK and Gibraltar Government and of no concern to the Guardia Civil. And finally Cádiz fishermen should be fishing in Cádiz and Spanish waters so what happens in BGTW in no business of theirs at all, at all.

Of course Spain insists that Gibraltar has no territorial waters but that is not a local dispute between us and them it is Madrid flying in the face of the United Nations. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 sets out Gibraltar’s right to a three mile limit, and we could have 12 miles if we asked for it. Spain will claim that it signed the convention but will point out it added:

“In ratifying the Convention, Spain wishes to make it known that this act cannot be construed as recognition of any rights or status regarding the maritime space of Gibraltar that are not included in article 10 of the Treaty of Utrecht of 13 July 1713 concluded between the Crowns of Spain and Great Britain. Furthermore, Spain does not consider that Resolution III of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea is applicable to the colony of Gibraltar, which is subject to a process of decolonization in which only relevant resolutions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly are applicable."

This clause has no basis in international law and is yet more Madrid gobbledegook. The fact is Gibraltar’s three mile limit is recognized by the UN and whether Rajoy or any other Spanish politician agrees with it or not is neither here nor there. Our waters are a legal fact.

So why are we dropping blocks of concrete in to the waters of Gibraltar? No.6 in a statement tells us: “The Government announced the creation of reefs in different parts of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW) as part of its marine protection strategy when it published the fishing report. These reefs will increase biodiversity and provide refuge for many marine species."

It would therefore follow at least as far as I can see that the actions of dropping the blocks is not an affront to environmentalists but in fact an environmentally good thing to do. It will preserve fish stocks albeit it may make raping the bottom of our seas by Spanish fishermen that more difficult. Good I say.

Gibraltarians enjoy the right to vote in European elections not because our Government or indeed the UK Government secured them for us but because private individuals took it upon themselves to take our case before the European Court. 

It may be that for political reasons our own Government and indeed the UK Government do not wish to test the Treaty of Utrecht or indeed our right to territorial waters in the international courts. However the fact is that until somebody does the confrontations that have been going on for many a year will continue for many a year more.

Spain is not going to go to court because it knows its arguments do not have a legal leg to stand on. Surely this nation of lawyers has amongst its number those who will fight for Gibraltar’s corner and bring an end to this Spanish nonsense once and for all. I don’t expect Danny Feetham to don his wig and gown and stand up for Gibraltar but may be there are others who will.

TIME TO SEND A GUN BOAT

I have never been an advocate of gunboat diplomacy and believe that tensions in the bay and our waters should be lessened and not heightened.

This seems also to be the policy of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who seemed happy enough that incursions in to British Gibraltar Territorial Waters by the Guardia Civil or other Spanish Government agencies be met by RGP or the Royal Navy launches.

I suspect the view in London was these were essentially police, customs, coast guard or environmental vessels and hence to send a fully armed warship out to meet them would be disproportionate. I suspect they were right except of course what the FCO also needed to do but failed was to send strong messages to Madrid that even these illegal incursions were not acceptable. Inviting the ambassador or foreign ministry officials around for a cup of tea and handing them a letter of protest, which would be filed as soon as they returned to their office, was not what was required but was Whitehall’s way of doing things.

Of course the game has now changed. It changed when rather stupidly not reading the runes Madrid sent a warship on two consecutive Tuesdays in to our waters: on the second occasion provocatively displaying a war flag. I receive a regular supply of emails from No 6 but never before have I received a steady stream from The Convent jumping up and down about the Spanish actions. As I said in a recent article: the tide has changed.

The tide has changed because the British Government’s stance on Gibraltar is very much linked to the Falklands. I have stated here before the welcome strong words from the British Prime Minister David Cameron, his Foreign Secretary William Hague and the Europe Minister David Lidington on our sovereignty and right to self determination were very much provoked because of the need to remain strong over the Falklands. It was no good being weak on Gibraltar because that would give a sign to Buenos Aires that pressure on London would pay off over the Malvinas.

Whether Spain wanted to impress the Latin American heads of state and prime ministers gathered in Cádiz last week for the bicentenary of La Pepa Constitution of 1812 – the Spanish Magna Carta and that of many of these countries – by acting tough over Gibraltar is anybody’s guess. It was either that or a massive miscalculation by Margallo.

The fact is Britain could allow the police, customs, coast guard or environmental agencies to mess around in our waters because quite simply none of them would have ventured out to the Falklands. However a warship is a different kettle of fish as has been displayed by The Convent’s and the Foreign Office’s angry response.

The RGP will shortly have larger patrol boats to meet the Guardia Civil and others but there is no warship on standby to fly the White Ensign in the face of the Armada. I think that should change. British MP Andrew Rosindell has stated the same in the House of Commons and he was right to do so.

I appreciate that the Royal Navy is short of warships but I am sure one could be stationed in Gibraltar even if it had to leave port to undertake missions elsewhere. The point is it should be in our port or at any time a short distance away so that any incursion by the Spanish navy will never be sure whether it will be met by a RN launch or one warship with a very large gun or missile.

Sending a gun boat need not necessarily increase tensions. After all it can carry out NATO tasks in the Straits and the Med. The Ministry of Defence often sends warships to the Falklands insisting it is not an act of provocation but just part of a vessel’s tour of duty. What is good for the Falklands is equally good for Gibraltar and the Rock would welcome being host and home to Royal Navy vessels on a permanent basis.